Oct 23, 2010

my travel journal -Yogyakarta Day 1

Could not sleep the whole night as was too excited over the trip. Hubby send us to KL Sentral and my niece who was my travel partner and I boarded the Sky Bus to the KL LCCT(Low Cost Carrier Terminal) for our flight. The trip on the bus was a little worrying as the bus was really swaying from side to side, like a boat on choppy seas, but thank heavens we arrived safely there and boarded the flight on time.

We arrived at the airport in Yogyakarta on time, and fortunately, my Indonesian friend, Richard was there to pick us up. Originally, I was to have a driver come pick me up but the price was a bit too steep then.

Since Prambanan was very close to the airport, we decided to go there first before heading towards our hotel.

It was truly a sight to behold. I love the sights of the temple and even better, the history or mythology behind it(see my post with the pictures in it). We went up one of the middle temple and saw a couple of statues inside it. However it was cooling inside the temple, despite the hot sun outside.

Later, we took the Prambanan shuttle to the Ratu Boko temple/palace nearby. It was somewhere between here that I lost my handphone, but only to be realised upon arrival at the hotel.

When we had finished , Richard drove us back to the hotel. I've chosen the Ministry of Coffee along Jl Prawitoman because it sounded blissful and I've read raves from other bloggers and it was even listed in my Lonely Planet book. And it was. It was small and charming. The receptionist/worker there were very friendly and nice. Our room was called Kenya Gold and it was purple and pink in colour but clean and nice.

I would highly recommend it to anyone else.

Anyway, Richard had coffee downstairs and went for his prayers while waiting for us. When we came down later, we headed to Jl Malioboro and the busy, busy road was thriving with hustle and bustle of life. We went to the Malioboro mall to get some groceries, souvenirs and snacks. I went overboard a bit because I missed my Cheetos American Cheese , which I got hooked in Bali and also some candies, which only another dear Indonesian friend, Novie sent whenever she could.

After that, we drove south to Parangtritis Beach. It was scary... with the black volcanic sand and crashing waves, and to top it all, the sky was stormy and about 5pm already and in Indonesia, that's dusk. It was really a fearsome sight to behold. Coupled with the scary story and true facts of the sea claiming 10 of thousands of people, at least a dozen or so every year... you go and try to figure out how you would feel...

We drove back from Parangtritis Beach in the rain and went to the nearby restaurant, ran by a Belgium owner called the Via Via for dinner/snacks.

Then, Richard left us to go do his things and we went online at a nearby internet cafe and then back to our hotel for ZZZZzzzzZZZ time...